A Midsummer Knight's Dream
by simpsonfreak
Summary: Arthur and Gwen elope so she can escape an arranged marriage. A jealous Vivian tells Gwen's betrothed and shenanigans ensue. Menwhile, a troop of actors are harassed by the faerie king Merlin, who's trying to play a prank on his wife. Merlin version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
1. Act 1 Scene 1

**A/N: Apologies of the lame pun of a title. I said I'd do another Shakesspear-Merlin thing... it just took me longer than I thought. Since A Midsummer Night's Dream is his most famous play to feature magic 'n' stuff I thought I'd be good to do.**

Uther sighed and threw down his quill. He was too old and too warm for this. It was the middle of summer and the kingdom was experiencing one of the worst heat waves it'd had for a long time. "For love of Oberon, why is it so hot?" He asked the empty room.

"My lord, are you alright?" Catrina asked, walking in slowly.

He sighed and ran a hand over his forehead, "Yes, I'm fine."He glanced down at the papers on his desk, "Just busy with legal matters... and wedding plans. Four days seems an eternity away."

Catrina smiled and walked forward, "And I am counting the minutes until I can call you 'husband'." She brushed the desk with her fingers and moved closer to Uther, "But perhaps you should take a break..."

He looked up at her as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Perhaps you are right..."

It was then a knight walked through the door, "My lord." He said giving a small bow.

Uther threw his head back, "For the love of- what is it?"

"There is a lord here who wishes to see you as a matter of urgency."

"Fine, send him in."

The knight left and then came back with a small group of people. An older man, two younger men and a young woman."

"My lord." The older man said, "My name is Lord Thomas. I come to you today because my daughter Guinevere wishes this man, Arthur Pendragon," He gestured to the fairer haired of the two men, "despite the fact that she is already betrothed to Cenred of Escetia." He pointed to the darker haired. "I want you to cast your verdict as to adequate punishment."

Guinevere stepped forward, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Please, my lord, Arthur is a good ad honourable man, as honourable as Cenred. Both of these men are equal yet I am forced to marry the one I don't love."

Uther leaned back and sighed, "They may be equal but as your father disapproves of Arthur, Cenred is the better man in this situation." He considered the scenario, "Guinevere, I see three choices for you: The first is to marry Cenred; the second is for you to become a nun; the third is for you to be executed for going against your father's wishes. You will make your choice in four days when Catrina and I are married."

A look of horror crossed Guinevere's face, "But- I can't-"

"Thank you." Cenred said with a slight sneer, "Your wisdom is impeccable as always."

Arthur walked forward, "My lord, I beg you to reconsider. Me and Cenred are equals in everything but our love for Guinevere and in that I excel him. Surely that overrides-"

Uther waved his hand dismissively, "My decision stands, take them away."

0000

"Why don't you just marry Cenred?" Vivian asked, playing with a lock of fair hair.

"I don't love him."

It was late evening by now. Guinevere sighed, she could never understand what Vivian saw in Cenred- though then again she didn't really understand anything about Vivian. They had known each other growing up but had grown to be so different that they probably would have hated each other if they'd met in adulthood.

"How exactly did you get him to love you so much, Gwen? I've tried everything but he still hates me?"

"I wish I knew. Maybe then I could get him to leave me alone. What was that?" She glanced to the window where she had heard a small tapping sound. This was quickly followed by another and another. She walked to the window and opened it, Arthur was standing there, throwing small pebbles at the window, "What are you doing?" She whispered, "If my father finds you he'll have you reported to the king."

"I have a plan." He replied, "Please, Guinevere, this could be our last chance to be together."

She paused for a moment before asking, "What's your plan?"

"I have an uncle, Agravaine, he lives just outside of the kingdom. If we were to elope, we could go to him, I'm sure he'd give us shelter. Then we could be married and Uther wouldn't be able to do anything because we'd be outside of his kingdom. It's perfect."

"Unless we get caught." She murmured. Letting out a breath she considered the options the king had given her, then Arthur's plan. "If we leave now, how far would we get?"

"Far enough into the woods so that they'd have a hard time finding us."

She thought again, "Yes." She said finally, "Let me just get some money and we can leave tonight."

"You're actually leaving?" Asked Vivian, who had been listening to the entire conversation with an increasing amount of disbelief.

Guinevere glanced at Vivian, "I have to, I can't spend the rest of my life married to someone I don't love." She sighed, "You've been a good friend, Vivian. I'll miss you. You might want to leave now; I don't want you to get caught up in this."

Vivian nodded, suddenly feeling very numb. She walked out of the room, bid a quick farewell to Guinevere's father then left to return home. "It's not fair." She thought, "I'm obviously prettier than Gwen. So why doesn't Cenred love me? And now I'm losing her as well. He used to love me, before he saw her. Maybe he could love me again now she's gone. I just need to do some grand gesture to win him back."

She stopped suddenly. She had gotten what she thought was a marvellous idea, "I know... I'll tell him that Gwen's eloped with Arthur. Then he'll be so angry with Gwen for running away with another man and grateful to me for telling him that he's bound to love me again." She laughed and shrill, frilly laugh and broke into a run, heading for Cenred's house.


	2. Act 1 Scene 2

**A/N: Sucky chapter, but it's needed. **

Leon took out his list and then looked up at the small group of men in front of him. "Well, everyone's here. That's a good start." He sighed. "I hope you realise we only have four days to rehearse this play before the king's wedding." He noticed one of them had his hand up, "What is it, Gwaine?"

"I've got a couple of questions. Firstly, what's the name of the play exactly?"

"Ah, well I'm very glad you asked me that. The play is a comedy entitled _The Cruel Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe._"

"Sounds hilarious." Gwaine muttered, causing some other the others to titter. "Alright, my second question is: why do we have to rehearse it in the middle of the woods... at night?"

"We can't risk the king or his fiancé seeing the play before their wedding, that's why."

"That's stupid."

"Shut up, Gwaine." Leon said looking back at the list, "I will now read out each person's name and what part you'll be given in the play. Gwaine, you'll be playing the main character: Pyramus."

"Is he a villain or a hero?"

"The hero."

"Thought so."

Leon shook his head and continued reading down the list, "Percival, you'll be playing Thisbe."

"Who's that?"

"Our leading lady."

Percival groaned, "Do I have to play the girl? I've got a beard."

Leon looked up at him before looking back down at his list, "No, you haven't."

"I'm growing one."

"No, you're not. Elyan, you're Thisbe's mother. Lancelot, you're Pyramus's father. Tristan, you're the lion. And finally, I'll play Thisbe's father. Alright then, let's start the rehearsal."


	3. Act 2 Scene 1

"Morgana!" Merlin shouted, looking around the forest clearing, "I know you're here somewhere so you might as well show yourself!"

"What's wrong, dear husband?" A voice said behind him.

He spun around and faced Morgana, "You know full well."

"Let's pretend I don't." She smirked, her hands firmly holding onto Mordred.

"Look, just give the boy back to his parents and we'll forget all about it."

"Not for all you faerie kingdom."

He scowled, "You _can't_ keep a mortal here."

"His mother was my friend before she died giving birth to him. I have every right to raise him myself."

"No, you don't."

Morgana turned on her heel, keeping a firm grip on the boy's shoulders, "Come Morgause, Nimueh, Freya. Let us leave the king to his adoring subjects." She smiled cruelly as she walked away, a small group of servants in tow.

Merlin let out a sigh, all he and Morgana ever seemed to do was argue. He was starting to forget why he married her in the first place. He sat on a log and covered his face with his hands.

"You seem tired, my king. Is there anything old Trickler can do for you?"

He opened one eye and then closed it again, "You can leave me alone, though I know that isn't usually an option with you."

"That's quite rude of you, my king. Will the queen still not give up the boy? Perhaps a good tricking is in order."

He looked up, "How would that solve _anything_?"

"It wouldn't, but it'd be fun to watch."

"... Go away."

"Or," Tickler said, trying to backtrack, "You could shame my queen into giving up the child."

He thought about this, "Maybe..." She had humiliated him many time before, it seemed only fair that he could do the same to her, had get her to give up the child in the process. He considered ways to shame her, he knew of several spell that would cause the recipient to lose their wits.

"Trickler," He said after a while, "have you heard of the flower love-in-idleness?"

"I know what it looks like." The faerie murmured, his eyes igniting. "But I don't know anything else of it."

"Love-in-idleness is a magical flower. It creates a juice that when poured into the eyes of someone sleeping will make them fall in love with the first living thing they see. Which is exactly what I plan to do to Morgana." He said, grtting up from the log, "I'll make her fall in love with some hideous creature then she would be so humiliated she'd send Mordred back."

Trickler grinned wickedly, "A clever plan indeed, sire. I will find you this plant." With that he disappeared.

Merlin looked up at the sky, he didn't particularly like being so distrustful. But then again, she should give the boy back. He looked back down quickly as he heard voices. Stepping back into the trees he became invisible as all fairies did when they heard mortals approaching. He watched at the man and woman came closer.

"Leave me alone, Vivian!"

"Why do you still want her? She's run off with Arthur, usually people take that as a sign that it's time to quit!"

Cenred turned on her, "That's rich coming from you. How many times do I have to tell you I don't love you before you'll leave me alone?"

"It doesn't matter how many times you tell me because I'd still love you all the same."

He growled and pointed back the way they had come, "Go home! I'm going to find them and you can't stop me." With that he turned and marched away.

"If I could hate you I would!" Vivian shouted and continued following him.

When they were both gone Merlin reappeared from the shadow. "Poor girl..." He murmured. "I'll use the flower to make that man fall in love with you and end your suffering."

"I have found you the flower, my king."

Merlin glanced over his shoulder and saw Trickler holding the flower. It was a deep purple with several buds growing from the single stem. "Thank you." He took the flower, "Morgana usually sleeps in the Eglantine Grove. I can go there and wait. Tricker, before you go..." He broke off some of the buds and handed them to the sprite, "There are two mortals in the woods tonight, a man and woman. The woman loves the man but he despises her. I'd like you to drop some of the juice into his eyes while he sleeps and try to make sure that the first thing he sees will be the girl. Could you do that?"

"Do not fear, my king." He said with a grin, "I live to serve you."

**A/N: Introducing an incredibly OOC Merlin as Oberon! …yay… I guess...**

**But Trickler was born to be Robin Goodfellow/Puck/whatever. I mean the whole episode Sweet Dreams was basically a rewrite of MSND**


	4. Act 2 Scene 2

**A/N: *cough* I sort of, uh, forgot about this… sorry…**

When Merlin entered the grove Morgana was already in a deep sleep. He carefully dropped the juice from the flower into Morgana's eyes. She stirred a little and rolled over in her sleep but did not wake up. He crept away again, leaving no trace of his being there.

0000

Guinevere had been following Arthur for what seemed like hours, though she wasn't sure how long it had actually been. She was sure she recognised that tree stump, "Arthur, are we lost?"

"No." He replied sternly, not taking his eyes away from the path in front of them, though now it was getting more and more difficult to see in the gloom.

Gwen sighed, she was starting to lose the feeling in the souls of her feet. "You've been saying that for hours, it's getting late… And you look like you're about to collapse. I think we should rest."

He leaned against a tree, "We do _not_ need to rest, we'll be fine. We're going in the right direction, I'm sure of it."

"How sure?"

He paused for a second to think about his answer, but couldn't find one that as both truthful and convenient. "Alright, fine… We'll rest."

She smiled internal and gave thanks to whichever deity was watching over them. It felt like a great weight had been taken off her back. She moved slowly, stiffly to a grassy bank. When there she practically collapsed onto the ground and closed her eyelids. Only for them to snap up again when she realised Arthur was lying on the ground directly behind her. She rolled over to face him, he was lying on his back with his eyes shut, she couldn't tell of he was awake or not. "Uh… Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if you didn't sleep next to me?"

He opened one eye to look at her and raised an eyebrow, "Don't you trust me?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just…" She wasn't sure how to phrase this, "If we are found during the night, they would be more likely to kill us if we were sleeping next to each other."

He sighed and sat up, "You're probably right... I'll sleep over there." He pointed to a spot a little further off, "Goodnight, Guinevere." He said, lightly kissing her before getting up.

"Goodnight, Arthur." She murmured. Gwen lay her head down on the bank and fell into one of the deepest sleeps she'd ever had.

0000

It was some time later that Trickler appeared, flower in hand, "Ah, I've found them at last; the mortal man and woman." He walked to Arthur and dropped some of the juice in his eye. "There, Clotpole." He muttered before stalking off to return the news to Merlin.

It was later still that Cenred and Vivian walked into the glade. They could not see Arthur and Guinevere in the gathering darkness and were so wrapped up in their own argument that they probably wouldn't have noticed them had it been lighter.

Cenred turned on Vivian, "I'm going on alone, regardless of whether or not you go back, I mean it."

"You mean you'd leave me on my own in the dark, in the middle of the forest?" She asked in the shrillest voice she could manage.

"Yes."

"You wouldn't dare."

He grinned wickedly and shot of into the darkness; weaving in and out of trees so she wouldn't be able to follow.

"Cenred, come back!" She called, she looked around her. "I don't know where I am..." She murmured as it finally dawned on her the gravity of her situation. As she looked into the shadows she saw a large figure lying on the ground. At first she thought it was an animal. But at closer inspection she saw is was a human a very familiar human at that. "Arthur!" She cried, running to his side, "Are you hurt? Dead? Where's Gwen?" She shook him roughly, trying to wake him.

He opened his eyes slowly and as they focused on Vivian he sat up, "Sweet Vivian! I am glad to see you here. Did you come here alone? You should not have done so, my beloved, these woods can be dangerous."

Her eyes widened and she backed away a bit, "Arthur, what's wrong with you? Where's Gwen, is she alright?"

"Why should I care where Guinevere is when I have you by my side?" He said, getting to his feet, "Comparing you to Guinevere is to compare a raven to a dove. I now see that I have been wasting my time with her when I could have had you and lived the greatest love story ever told."

"Stop it!" She squealed, "I know you don't mean it! I know I'm not beautiful enough for Cenred without you making fun of me with all this flattery! " She ran out of the glade, closely followed by the infatuated Arthur.

Guinevere tossed in her sleep. She was having a dream where she was surrounded by snakes. Each spitting venom and each with eyes that showed nothing but malice. One of the snakes lunged forward for the strike, causing her to wake with a start. She sat, trembling for a second. Her body covered in cold sweat. She waited for her heartbeat to slow down before speaking. "Arthur..." She murmured, "I've just had a horrible dream..." She sat up and glanced at the spot Arthur had been sleeping in, "Arthur?" She said again, "Are you there?" She got up and looked around, "Arthur!" She cried out. She received no answer. "Oh Oberon..." She whispered, "Something's happened to him. Well, I'll find him or die trying."

**A/N: Yay! Plot!**


	5. Act 3 Scene 1

Leon clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was over an hour into the rehearsal and they hadn't acted out a single scene. Gwaine made sure of that.

"But how will they know that I'm not really dead? They'll think the knife's real."

Leon was about ready to tear his hair out. "Because it's a play! They know it's a play!"

"Yeah… but will they know the lion's not real? What if they think it's escaped from a menagerie?"

"He has a point." Elyan said. He knew Leon was near breaking point, and was annoyed with him for making him Thisbe's Mother.

"Don't encourage him." Leon muttered, "Alright, fine we'll have a prologue. We'll tell the audience that the knife's not real, none of the deaths are real and that the lion is defiantly not real." He looked at Gwaine, "Any other problems?"

"Yeah, actually." Gwaine said. "Alright, so what if the moon doesn't shine?"

"What?"

"Well, Pyramus and Thisbe met by moonlight. So we need moonlight, but what if the moon doesn't shine?"

"Then one of us will carry a candle." Leon said through gritted teeth, "Anything else?"

"Now that you mention it, I was wondering what we were going to do about the wall with the hole in that Pyramus and Thisbe spoke to each other through."

"Well…" Leon desperately searched his mind for a solution. "One of us will be the wall."

"How will they make the hole for Pyramus and Thisbe speak through?"

"They'll make a circle with their fingers." He said, touching the tips of his thumb the forefinger to make a ring. "There, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Good, then you can begin. Percival, stand over there and pretend you're a woman. Gwaine when you finish your part go behind that bush; that'll be offstage."

As the rehearsal began at last, the players were blissfully unaware of Morgana sleeping the nearby glade, right beside the bush. They would never see her, mortals never could. However, Trickler was something else entirely. He had gone to the grove with the intention of finding something humiliating for Morgana to fall for when she woke up; to please the king.

He heard the troop and turned to look at them. "Why are there so many mortals here tonight? Usually you'd be lucky to see just one, and now there's a whole herd of them." He stopped to watch them for a bit, "Are they actors? Maybe I could play a part." He grinned.

"Oh, sweet Thisbe." Gwaine muttered, "Your..." He looked to Leon, "Do I have to say this?"

"Yes."

He sighed, "Your breath is as the flowers and your voice as the lark song." He let out another pained sigh, "I long for you."

Percival had a similarly pained look on his face, "Most radiant Pyramus, you are lily-white and rose-red. I will meet you a Ninus' Tomb where we may unfold the passion of our love- bloody Hell, Leon!"

"I didn't write the poem."

"You did write the script."

"That's not the point!" Leon snapped, "Gwaine, that's the end of your scene, go offstage."

"Gladly." He said before walking behind the bush, dangerously close to where Morgana was sleeping and Trickler was watching. It was now that the seed of an idea was planted in Trickler's mind and grew at an alarming rate. Making sure to keep out of sight, he focused on the disgruntled Gwaine and started to work his magic.

0000

The play continued, unaware for what was going on in the bush. Thisbe was waiting for Pyramus at Ninus' Tomb and hoping her parents wouldn't find her. Percival was waiting for the play to end. "Oh, where is Pyramus? I long to see you again. I pray that you will be swift."

He waited, this was the part where Gwaine should have emerged back onto the stage.

"Gwaine!" Leon called, "That's your cue."

"Sorry." He said as he walked back into view, "I didn't here."

As soon as they saw him, the group turned and ran, screaming the name of various divine beings. The only one left standing was Lancelot who looked at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed, unable to move.

"What the- Hey, guys where are you going?" Gwaine frowned, and looked at Lancelot, "What do you think got into them? What's wrong with you?"

Lancelot had turned pale, he raised and trembling hand to point he his companion. He tried to speak but all that came out was an odd, choking noise, "G-Gwaine… is that you?"

"Of course it's me! Who'd you think it was?"

"I… your head…"

"What about my head?" Gwaine was getting more confused by the second.

"…It's a donkey head."

There was a silence. Then it was filled by Gwaine's braying laughter, "Is this some sort of joke you guy prepared to make an ass of me?" He started looking through the trees, expecting to see his friends walking back and laughing. "Alright, I was actually scared for a second there. You can come out again now!"

Lancelot as regained some of the feeling in his fingers. He hadn't heard anything Gwaine had said. "It'll be alright." He tried to reassure Gwaine, "I'll go and get a wise woman from the village… You'll be alright." And with that he ran away.

"Hey, wait! What are you talking about? Lancelot?" Gwaine sighed, he was starting to think the others had really gone. "You can't leave me here alone… I don't know the way back." He sat against a tree. He suddenly felt very lost and alone. No, they couldn't have gone, they wouldn't do that. '_I'll show them_.' He thought, _'Trying to scare me. I'll sing and they'll see that I'm not afraid. What was that song my mother used to sing?'_

"The ouzel cock, so black of hue

With orange-tawny bill,

The throstle with his note so true,

The wren with little quill."

Morgana's eyelids lifted. "What's that noise?" She asked groggily, "Singing?" She sat up and looked around. She got to her feet and looked over the bush. When she saw Gwaine she froze and felt her cheeks grow pink as love-in-idleness did its work. He was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, even if she couldn't quite tell what it was. She sat and listened, not wanting to interrupt his wonderful song.

"The finch, the sparrow and the lark,

The plainsong cuckoo grey,

Whose not full many a man doth mark

And dares not answer 'nay'… damn it!"

He came to a stop, hitting the back of his head against the tree. "They're not coming back."

"Please don't stop!"

He jumped at the sound of a woman's voice, "Uh… Hello?"

Morgana ran forward, her eyes pleading, "Please don't stop. Your song was beautiful."

"Wh-" Gwaine hadn't expected this, he wasn't quite sure what to ask first. "Who are you?"

She knelt down so they were eyelevel with each other, "My name's Morgana. I'm the queen of the faeries and you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen."

"I… what?"

"I know we've only just met." She said, "But I think I love you."

He had to laugh at this, "My lady, I'm flattered but you really have no reason to love me. Even if reason and love don't really have anything to do with each other."

She smiled brightly and stoked the grey fur on his cheek, "You're wise just as you are beautiful."

"I'm not wise." He muttered, "If I was I'd know how to get out of this forest."

"You don't need to leave." She replied matter-of-factly, "I could give you everything you've ever wanted." He looked unconvinced so she continued, "You will have servants; as many as you want. I will fetch you jewels from the deepest depths of the ocean and sing you to sleep on a bed of pressed flowers. I can make you immortal like me so we could spend eternity together."

Gwaine thought about it. The offer he'd just been given was tempting to say the least. But what if she wasn't really a faerie? Then again, immortality didn't sound bad. "Alright…" He murmured.

She hugged him tightly, "Thank you!" She got to her feet and helped him get to his. "My servants shall wait on you until I find you servants of your own. Nimueh, Catrina, Freya, Morgause!"

The four faeries appeared a second later. "What is it you want, my queen?" Morgause asked. She noticed Gwaine, "Do you want us to rid you of this… thing?"

"You will not speak of him that way!" Morgana snapped. "Nimueh," She said addressing the next faerie. "You will lead this wonderful mortal to my favourite resting place and give him anything he asks for. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my queen." Nimueh said, casting a smug look in Morgause's direction. She then looked to Gwaine, "This way, my lord."

Gwaine followed the four faeries, not quite able to believe his luck.

**A/N: I somehow missed this scene, I had the scene after this one half written before I realised… *head desk* **

**Anyway, while I was on Sparknotes looking at the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream I found possibly the worst possible Shakespeare pun: Cookie Dough-thello.**

**-_- I hate puns. At least this one made me feel better about the title of this fic.**


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